This invention relates to an in intermittent suction device for removing fluids from body cavities of a patient, and, more particularly, to a means of providing timed sequence of vacuum/nonvacuum to that patient for such fluid removal.
Intermittent suction devices are routinely used in medical environments, such as hospital recovery rooms where such devices are continually affixed to the patient and which are employed post-operatively to drain patient cavities, such as the stomach.
Typical of such devices are as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,359,605 of Sielaff. In the Sielaff device, an intermittent timed cycle is used to alternate between two states; one where the vacuum is actually being applied to the patient cavity, and the other where the vacuum is terminated and and atmospheric pressure is applied to the patient cavity in order that fluids in the withdrawal tubing may briefly flow backwardly toward the patient to clear the lines.
Further, normally such devices have the ability to operate off of normal piped vacuum available in operating room, recovery rooms and the like in hospitals.
While the Sielaff device is a reliable, widely used device, it is advantageous to provide an improved device having the least complexity without sacrificing reliability, such that the device has a minimum of moving parts, few parts to wear and yet which achieves greater reliability and operating lifetime. In addition, since current such devices are relatively inexpensive, any new device preferably needs to be easy to manufacture at a low cost.